Get Shorty
by Lady of the Lost and Found
Summary: Movieverse - As the Autobots wait in vain for a response from the Heavens, an old story that has been circulating on the net for years has caught Prime's attention. Sam and co. are sent to see if the rumors of a living mechanical being are true or a hoax.
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings!**

**This is my first Transformers fan fic which was inspired by the 2007 movie. I've always been a fan of Transformers, mainly the Beasties/Beast Wars era since that's what I grew up with. This story is a short little piece that popped into my head after watching the film and I hope to do the characters justice. The two new characters that will be introduced in this piece are both OC's but the Autobot was inspired by the greatness that is Rattrap. Just for the record I will be sticking to the idea that energon is also found on Earth (again it comes from the Beasties era) and I really hope you enjoy the story.**

**Also, as everyone knows I do not own any of the known characters nor the Transformers universe. If I did I'd be a millionaire. The two OC's are mine other than that, it's all Hasbro and Dreamworks. **

**Happy Reading.**

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"_I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message for any surviving Autobots taking refuge amongst the stars. We are here. We are waiting."_

**Alberta, Canada**

_Ding!_

"Where's my tuna melt? Carlos I need that tuna melt! The kid's been waiting for over 10 minutes and he's not getting any younger." Lucy barked as she huffed a limp strand of hair out of her eyes. In the heat of the July sunshine it was impossible to stay somewhat cool, even with all the doors and windows left open. The tiny road-side diner felt like a sweltering oven and everyone inside slowly cooked away while they all hoped for some badly needed rain to arrive.

"Carlos!" Lucy stuck her pencil behind one ear and slapped her menu notepad on the dented order bell.

_Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!_

"Alright! Hold your horses girl I'm going as fast as I can!" Shouted the red-faced cook as he appeared in the narrow opening between the kitchen and the restaurant serving counter. "Here!"

The long-awaited ceramic platter was shoved into Lucy's waiting hands with a few choice words thrown in for emphasis.

"About time old man." Lucy's frown morphed into a cheeky grin as she blew him a kiss and hurried off to deliver the tuna melt.

Carlos just rolled his eyes and looked skyward, uttering a few words in Spanish to the Virgin Mary.

"Alright, one tuna melt with fries and a side salad, just like you ordered." Lucy chirped as she quickly set down the large platter in front of the waiting customer.

"Thanks." Said the kid. He had to be no older than 17 but already he was quite a looker. Goofy yet cute, like the type of high school underdog that always ends up getting the captain of the cheerleading squad at the end of every teen movie.

"No problem. Sorry about the wait kid. Hey, you sure you don't want anything?" Lucy swatted away a fly that threatened to land on her damp forehead as she nodded to the kid's companion. Talk about a real bombshell. The few patrons that were in the dingy diner had snapped to attention when she walked in and Lucy could practically feel the testosterone level around her skyrocket. Lucy guessed the two were a couple, how, well she didn't know but hey she had seen stranger things come through those diner doors over the years.

"No thank you. I'm fine." Mikaela gave the older woman a tight smile as she eyed Sam's plate with a wary eye. It hardly looked appetizing.

"Alright, suit yourself." Lucy shrugged her shoulders and winced slightly as a glare of light blinded her for a moment. "Hey kid, that's your car right?"

Sam looked up at the waitress then followed her gaze to see what she was looking at. Sitting outside in the baking sun Bumblebee looked more glamorous than ever. The highly polished surface of the Camaro's hood gleamed like a shiny penny and it was the glare off the hood that had caught Lucy's attention.

"Uh yeah." Sam inhaled a fry as he dug in ravenously. He and Mikaela had been on the road for hours and he had no qualms about shoveling down the small diner's fare. If it was edible, he was happy. End of story. Food was food right?

"Jeez. How much did your daddy pay for it?" Lucy eyed the car carefully, obviously impressed with what she saw. A car like that would run up quite a tab and would never be found in the backwaters of Alberta. These kids had to be city kids with some real rich fathers in order to be able to afford driving that machine around all over the province, especially with gas prices the way they were.

Sam swallowed a half-chewed chunk of the tuna melt and coughed before he answered her. "I paid for it."

"Uh huh." Lucy's arched an eyebrow as she gave him a sidelong glance. Yeah right. There was no way a kid like Sam could ever afford a car like that unless his father was Bill Gates and gave him one hell of an allowance. "And may I ask how much it cost you?"

"Umm…four thousand dollars." Sam said without thinking. Mikaela couldn't help but roll her eyes at Sam's obliviousness and she gave him a discreet nudge with her elbow to let him know that he had goofed. Even if it was the truth no one was ever going to believe that he paid four grand for a 2008 Camaro.

"Oh really?" Lucy gave Sam a long look as she quickly calculated what type of tip he was going to leave her. Hey if the kid could drive a Camaro, he could certainly leave a decent "Thank You" percentage instead of the measly quarters and loonies she always got from the other customers. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Sam grinned proudly before Mikaela nudged him once more, harder this time. "What?"

"Never mind." She muttered under her breath. "Just ask already."

"Okay, whatever you say kid." Lucy just shook her head. So much for the middle class. It looked like the rich were getting richer and the people like herself who were on the bottom rung of the social ladder were getting poorer.

"Um excuse me Miss…can I ask you a question?" Sam cleared his throat as the waitress turned to go serve another customer.

"The name's Lucy and sure you can. Ask away." Lucy paused as she dug through her apron pocket and pulled out a stick of Spearmint gum.

"Um, I was wondering if you could tell me if Elina Valzano is working today?" There, it was finally said. Mikaela and Sam kept their eyes on the waitress' face as they waited for some sort of reaction. It had taken them a good two days to reach the American/Canadian border and another half-day to get to where they were now all because of something Optimus Prime had downloaded off the web. He had given them a name and location before sending them on their way. Sam didn't have a clue as to why he was supposed to find this person but if Optimus wanted it done then it had to be important.

Lucy paused for a moment as she thoughtfully chewed her stick of gum before answering Sam question. "She ain't here today."

"_Wow. Could you be any more helpful?_" Mikaela thought to herself as grabbed Sam's untouched knife and began to inspect her reflection in its spotted surface.

"Uh okay." Sam said as he looked down at his plate and thought for a moment. He had figured that it wasn't going to be easy. Right, time for plan B. "Could you tell me where she lives then?"

"Smooth Sam. Smooth." Mikaela murmured quietly to herself as she continued to gaze at her reflection, making it a point not to be part of the conversation. She'd let Sam deal with the details. Instead she busied herself by inconspicuously watching the rest of the diner patrons as she lifted the knife slightly and used it as a mirror. If the waitress didn't end up telling then anything then maybe someone else would.

"And may I ask who asking and why?" Lucy said as she crossed her arms over her chest and stood there with a faint frown on her face.

"Well my name is Sam Witwicky, that's pronounced _Wit-whicky,_ and my dad's an old friend of her dad and I'm here to give her something. Something important. That she needs. Yeah." Sam trailed off as he scratched the back of his neck, picking at a soggy French fry in order to avoid Lucy's hard stare.

Lucy looked him over once more before she sniffed and took her notepad out of her apron pocket. "Come back tomorrow kid and talk to her yourself."

With that she turned and moved towards a pair of truckers that were waiting for a refill on their coffees.

"Well that was a good waste of time." Mikaela said dryly as she plunked down the knife and grabbed Sam's napkin, making sure to wipe her hands fully.

"Oh boy." Sam sighed as he picked up a few fries and ate them. So much for their solid lead. He was so sure that he would get some answers but now it didn't look like it was ever going to happen. Not at the diner anyways.

"Why couldn't Optimus just give us this woman's address? Why did he have to send us on a wild goose chase into the middle of nowhere?" Mikaela dug into her purse and pulled out a small compact mirror. Despite the heat she still made it a point to look her best, even if there was no one around to impress.

Sam shook his head and poked at the now unappetizing tuna melt with a fork. "I don't know."

"Well, we're not going to get anything more from here. No one's going to talk. C'mon." Mikaela dabbed her nose with an applicator and shut the mirror with a sharp snap. She couldn't wait to get out of the diner and the sooner they left the better.

"Can't I just finish this first?" Sam complained as he motioned at the plate that he had barely had a chance to touch. It was going to cost him a whole ten dollars and the last thing he wanted was to have his hard-earned money go to waste.

Mikaela just gave him a reproachful look. "Sam."

"Alright." There was no winning against that look. Reluctantly Sam dug out his wallet and leafed out a couple of bills. He placed a ten dollar bill on the table and after a moments thought, he added an additional twenty.

"Little much for a tuna melt don't you think?" Mikaela pointed out. It wasn't that Sam was cheap, well he was, but that was only because his father pointedly refused to raise his allowance from fifteen dollars a week. Sam was extra-careful on how he spent his pitiful savings and the fact that he practically threw away a hard-earned twenty aroused Mikaela's curiosity.

"Yeah well in the movies guys leave big tips so that they'll be remembered and maybe tomorrow she'll be willing to talk." Sam shrugged his shoulders as he stood up. He had a gut feeling that sacrificing a twenty would pay off in the long run.

"This isn't the movies." Mikaela shook her head as she slung her purse over her shoulder.

"Well you never know, it could work." Sam pointed out as he gave the twenty a wistful look but left it where it was.

"Yeah. Let's go." Mikaela nudged his shoulder and without another word the two left the diner. It was only six in the evening but the extreme heat showed no sign of cooling off as night approached. The two teens made their way over to where Bumblebee was parked and waiting and when they got within six feet of the car the engine roared to life on its own.

"Okay, now where do we go?" Sam asked as he opened the passenger door and picked up a badly folded map that was lying on the car floor. He quickly untangled the mess and spread the map out onto Bumblebee's hood as the car's headlights blinked on and off once to let Sam know that he was listening.

"This was the last stop. The guy at the hardware store said this was where she worked." Mikaela gnawed her lower lip as she glanced at the edge of the map where they had scrawled a short list of possible places that this Elina woman could be.

"You mean this is it?" The pit of Sam's stomach dropped a little as Bumblebee revved his engine in annoyance. "Great a dead end. Now what?"

Sam slapped the Camaro's hood in annoyance and Bumblebee, who didn't appreciate Sam's actions, honked to remind Sam that he wasn't there to be used as a punching bag.

The sudden blaring of Bumblebee's horn caught Sam by unaware and he jump in surprise. "Sorry man."

"Kid! Hey kid! Hang on a sec!" Lucy's voice called out after them. The Camaro's engine purred softly as Sam and Mikaela turned around to see the waitress hurry towards them, looking left and right to make sure no one was around.

"Leave something behind?" Sam asked Mikaela.

"No."

"Hey kid, Sam whatever your name is. You really want to know where Elina lives?" Lucy asked once she was close enough. It didn't go unnoticed by either of the teens that the waitress was talking softly so that they could not be overheard.

"Yeah. It's kinda important." Sam stepped forward eagerly.

"She's not in trouble again is she?" Lucy asked as she looked them both in the eye. It was plain to see that she was worried about something.

"Trouble? Uhh…." Sam looked over at Mikaela and she just shook her head, "No. No trouble. None what so ever. Should there be trouble?"

"I hope not." Lucy muttered as she quickly glanced over her shoulder. "Okay, but remember, I didn't tell you anything."

"Oh, yeah, sure, of course. My lips are sealed. See?" Sam nodded as he mimed zipping his lips shut with an imaginary zipper. Lucy gave him a strange look but continued.

"Keep going down this road until you get to the first intersection. Take a right onto Donovan road and keep doing until you hit dirt. When you do, keep going for a good four miles and you can't miss it. It's the house in the middle of nowhere and it has a big barn behind it. You got all that?"

"Uh down this road, take right, keep going until I see a barn. Got it." Sam nodded as he made a quick mental note and tried to engrave the directions into his memory.

"Alright then. You two take care of yourselves. People around here really aren't that friendly with strangers. Okay?" Lucy gave them a wistful half-smile as her eyes lingered on the car for a moment.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot Lucy. You really helped us out." Sam smiled and held out his hand in thanks.

"We'll see about that." Lucy looked at his outstretched hand but didn't shake it. Instead she turned around and headed back towards the diner. However a moment later she turned around. "Oh and kid, thanks for the tip."

She gave them a small wave before she disappeared into the diner leaving the two teens standing beside their car.

"Told you it would work." Sam smirked proudly as Mikaela resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Oh boy.

Sam quickly folded the map in no particular order and tossed it back onto the backseat as Mikaela slid into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. Sam quickly shut the doors and ran around the back of the Camaro before he hopped into the driver's seat and got himself settled in.

As he buckled up the car radio came to life and instantly the interior of the sports car was filled with evangelical preaching.

"_And as I wandered through the valley alone without direction…"_

"Don't worry Bumblebee. We finally know the way." Sam said as he gave the steering wheel a fond pat. The radio station switched and the voice of a local talk host spoke up.

"_And I said to Brad that it was about time…"_

"Alright, let's go pay Elina Valzano a visit." Sam said and sat back to enjoy the ride. On its own, the clutch moved into first and the steering wheel turned as the car peeled out of the parking lot and sped off down the lone stretch of road. With Bumblebee in control the only thing Sam had to worry about were the directions and speed limit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings Sportsfans!**

**I realize that I have to get my technelogical vocab up to par so please bear with me as I figure out the hows and whys of Autobot antaomy.** **In this chapter we meet my two OC's and I hope you enjoy them. I know Shorty's not cannon and is nowhere close to rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ironhide and co. but I can't help but love the big guy. He was inspired by a real person with a little of 'Bee thrown in for fun. As for the relationship between my two OC's, I suggest watching the Iron Giant. It explains everything...just make sure you have some tissue ready cause you'll need it.**

**Happy Reading**

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The Williams Auto shop was the only car garage in the small town of Fawcett, Alberta, and it was considered to be the finest repair stop for miles. It was a nothing special looking place, just the usual six-door garage that housed a host of cars in the midst of being repaired as well as a handful of middle-aged mechanics would dedicatedly worked away from 9-6 each and every day. However all was not well in the usually laid-back workplace.

"C'mon Joe. I don't want to crap on you or anything but the guys and I are starting to be concerned." A man, roughly 42 years old with a military buzz cut, scrubbed at his oil-stained hands with an equally oily rag. He was one of the oldest mechanics in the shop had been the longest to work at Williams with the exception Joe who was the owner of the place.

"I know Ray but she's good at what she does and she gets a lot done." Joe Williams was a heavy-set man that constantly sported a five o'clock shadow no matter what time of day it was. He had taken over the family business back in '75 and after thirty long years he was looking forward to handing over the business reins to his own son once he got back from peacekeeping in Afghanistan.

"But you're giving her all the over-time hours. I don't mean to sound like a hard-case but we've also got families to provide for." Ray pointed out as he slung the oily rag over his shoulders and went to work at rolling up the sleeves of his stained coveralls. "Look I'm not saying that we want her out. She's a good mech and her father was a great guy. All I'm saying is that the rest of the crew would like a few of those extra hours as well."

The two men looked at each other as they stood in the small crowded backroom that served as Joe's office. The boss swirled the cold dregs of his 4 hour old coffee around in the chipped "Worlds #1 Dad" mug that was on his desk as he thought everything over.

Joe had taken a real shine to his one female mechanic but he had been well aware of the trouble brewing amongst the rest of his men. It was only a matter of time before he would have been forced to step in and do something about it and it looked like that time was now.

"Alright Ray, I'll talk to her." Joe sighed as he rubbed at the back of his sore neck.

"Thanks Joe." Ray nodded and left the office.

Joe Williams glanced over at the clock on his wall and just shook his head. This wasn't going to go over well.

"Hey Joe. Ray said you wanted to see me. What's up?" Elina Valzano poked her head into the office as Joe looked over at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Only 22 Elina looked a lot older than her years. She had the set jaw of her old man and his build, despite the fact that she was only 5'4. With her hair hidden under an old faded bandana and a wrench in one hand, she looked like one of the guys. She was no beauty but she had that "never say die" attitude that commanded respect even from the most critical of men. A woman mechanic was almost taboo in the small town but Elina had proved herself time and time again that she could fix just about anything that had moving parts.

"Uh oh. I know that look." Elina arched an eyebrow as she stepped into the office and neatly closed the door with the heel of her boot. "Who's been complaining this time? Is it Jerry?"

Joe just shook his head as he took a seat on the edge of his desk. "Nah it's not Jerry."

"Okay. Then why the long face?" Elina asked as she crossed her arms and leaned back against the closed door, waiting to hear from Joe what she already knew.

"Listen Elina. I think it's time that you eased up a little bit. You know, go back to working part-time instead of pulling 50 hours a week." Joe started but was interrupted by a growl-like snort from his youngest employee. "I'm not saying it has anything to do with you Elina. It's just that I have a number of other people on my payroll that I also have to think about."

"Let me guess, Ray fed you some sob-story about his dying wife and starving kids. The guy's divorced Joe and his kids live with his ex." Elina muttered as she glared out the large window that allowed Joe to keep an eye on things in the garage while being holed up in his office.

"It's not Ray Elina. There's only so many hours in a day and I have to think of the well-being of the rest of the guys. I'm the boss here, that's my job." Joe shrugged his shoulders. His hands were tied in this matter. He had to make sure everyone was satisfied because the last thing he wanted was for his men to walk out on him because of this. It was an extra headache that he didn't need.

"Oh come on Joe. Well-being of those guys? They're just being pissy because I'm a woman and I can tune a car better than all of them put together and they know it! They're just jealous that a woman can do just as good as job them and I work harder than they do. It's a power trip Joe, don't you see that?" Elina exclaimed with a wave of her hands as she pointed at the busy mechanics on the other side of the glass window. "Joe you know I need the hours."

"I know you do Elina but this is what I have to do. I don't really have much of a choice here." Joe explained as he drummed his fingers on the desktop. It was a habit of his that he did whenever he was in a situation that he didn't particularly want to be in. "Look, if you're really strapped I can loan you whatever you need…"

His voice trailed off as Elina speared him with a look that had made many a man's blood run cold. The only reason why Elina didn't whip her wrench at his head was the single fact that Joe was one of the few people in Fawcett that actually treated her like a human being instead of an outsider.

"I don't need your charity okay?" A pained expression flashed across her face for a moment before the hard-as-stone sullen expression that everyone knew so well made its appearance. There was no reasoning with her when Elina had her commando face on. "Thanks a lot Joe."

Joe opened his mouth to say something but Elina turned and left. Growling under her breath, she tossed her wrench into a red tower tool-box and stalked out of the garage. None of the other workers looked up as they continued to do whatever it was they were doing. They all knew what had happened and none of them were stupid enough to say anything about it within earshot of the now thoroughly cheesed off mechanic.

"Fuckin' chauvinistic fascists." Elina swore as she yanked off her coveralls and wadded it into a misshapen lump before ramming it none too gently into an old canvas backpack that she took everywhere with her. Some women used Gucci purses but not Elina.

Practically smoking at the ears, Elina was well aware that she had just about everyone's eye on her as she kept her back to the men and unearthed her keys from the keychain she wore around her neck. What? Were they waiting to see her cry? Ha! Fat chance of that ever happening. The last time Elina ever shed a tear was when her father died eight years ago and she had only done it behind closed doors.

Holding her head high Elina slung her pack over her shoulder and marched out of the garage without looking at anyone or anything. Let them complain all they wanted, she didn't care. As for the transmission she had spent the past hour and a half working on, she was sure one of the guys would finish fixing it. After all, it was what they wanted.

"I hate men." Elina spat as she went over to an old dirt bike that had definitely seen better days. Unable to afford anything with four wheels Elina relied on the semi-trusty two-wheel bike to get her to where she needed to go. It wasn't glamorous and it certainly could have used a few new paint jobs but the old bike was gas efficient, which considering her financial circumstances, was a definite plus.

"Hey Ray. Next time your furnace breaks down in the middle of February, fix it yourself." Elina called out for all to hear as she swung leg over the bike and revved its engine. When Ray looked up from under the hood of the '98 Toyota he was tinkering with Elina glared right at him before she stuck her middle finger in the air and sped off. So much for not holding grudges.

Instead of heading straight home Elina made a quick stop at the post office in order to pick up her mail. Her property was too far out of town for the postman to ever bother driving up to deliver the mail so instead Elina had to swing by the Canadian Post outpost for a daily mail check. There were three envelopes waiting for her along with the usual junk mail. One of the envelopes was from the CIBC bank and with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Elina stuffed the mail into her backpack before hightailing it out of town. It was on days like that day that Elina couldn't stand being around people.

Machines however were a different story.

As Elina passed the O'Toole's bar, the local hotspot just on the edge of town, she slowed down as she quickly eyed the line of motorcycles that sat in a neat row outside the bar's front entrance. There were the usual cruisers and a few second-hand Japanese crotch rockets but none of them ever held her attention long enough with the exception of one bike that was always parked at the very end of the line. The gleam of polished chrome and waxed wheel hoods always made her heart skip a beat and she cut her speed so that she could slowly edge past the parking lot.

There it was a genuine 2002 Indian Chief motorcycle. It sat low to the ground with its white-walled tires half-hidden under the large hood covers that gave the bike that classic Indian look. Even though Elina never got close enough to examine it in great detail she knew that it packed a Power Plus Engine within its black, white and silver metal frame and the stock exhaust gave it that sweet sound that made Harley's sound crude and rough. It even had the fringed black leather saddlebags and seat cover.

If there was ever a motorcycle with her name on it, it was that Indian. However the day she ever managed to afford a cruiser like that would be the day hell froze over. It was never going to happen.

Elina gave the bike one last wistful glance before she opened the throttle and took off down the two-lane highway. By the time she sped down the long dirt road that stopped right at her front porch the sun was still nowhere near the horizon. After a half hour drive the heat that rose off the asphalt of the highway had soaked into her skin and Elina felt as if she were covered in three layers of sweat and grime. God she couldn't wait to take a long cold shower.

The dirt bike's high-pitched whine died down to a few coughs as Elina killed the engine and propped the bike up in front of the porch. Ready and waiting for her were the expectant and excited booming barks of two furry fiends from behind the garage.

"Alright you two. Shut up before you get heat stroke." Elina shook her head as she adjusted her pack and twirled her keys so that they clinked and jingled loudly. The barks turned into hyper howls and Elina waited a moment before she walked around the garage to where a huge dog kennel stood and behind the high fence were two very loud and very large dogs.

"Hey Chopperface!" Elina called in a sing-song voice and the larger of the two jumped up as if he had metal springs for legs. The big malamute/wolf mix pawed at the bottom kennel door and thrust his large muzzle between the gap as his tail wagged about a mile a minute.

"Okay, okay I'm here. Calm down before you hurt yourself. Sheesh." Elina scolded playfully as Chopper reared up on his hind legs and tried to lick Elina's face from between the links of the fence.

The other dog trotted around in circles, happy that Elina was home at last. The female mutt would have been leaping around like her companion but due to the fact that she only had three legs old Harley had to show her excitement in another way.

"Heya Harley. How you doin'? Huh? How you doin' today? Give me five girlfriend." Elina bent over and placed her hand on the fence so that Harley could reach it with her paw. "Alright."

Elina stood back and watched her two dogs as they settled down somewhat. Both dogs looked up at her with expectant eyes, both waiting for what was coming. Elina couldn't help but smile. Those two always made her feel better no matter how bad her day was going.

"Okay you two. No funny business now you hear me?" Elina said as she took her keys and selected the one for the kennel padlock. Chopper's large ears shot forward as his eyes zeroed in on the key. Elina made sure to stand away from the door as she unlocked it and unhitched the latch. The second she swung the door open Chopper bolted out of the kennel so fast that he left a small dust trail behind him. However not to be deterred Harley sprang after him in a bounding three-legged gait and the two started to bark again for the sheer pleasure of it.

"Crazy mutts." Elina muttered to herself as she watched Chopper do a back flip as he spotted some poor defenseless critter hiding in the tall dried out grass and took off after it, hounding it as if he were on a fox hunt. That dog alone made enough noise to wake the dead.

Harley watched her friend tear up the dirt for a bit before she trotted over to the front of the house in order to take up her post on the front porch. After all, someone had to stand guard over the property and the old mutt took her job seriously. Nothing went on that she didn't know about.

Elina left the door to the dog kennel open after she refilled the dogs' water bucket and used her bandana to wipe the sweat off her face as she went over and unlocked the back door. The interior of the small bungalow was dark but barley a few degrees cooler than the outside temperature. She headed straight for the kitchen and grabbed a half-filled two liter bottle of Sprite and downed it in seconds flat. With that done Elina tossed her backpack onto the small kitchen table and rooted around in the back of her fridge for the coldest beer.

Too lazy to get the bottle opener Elina opened the beer bottle with her teeth and spat the dented cap into the garbage can that sat in the corner next to the broom and dustpan duo. With a heavy sigh she plopped down into a chair and took a hearty swing of beer before she opened her pack and took out her mail. The flyers and supermarket advertisements went straight into the trash, along with two of the useless envelopes but the bank notice remained on the table as if it were some harbinger of bad tidings, which it was.

Elina took a few more swings before she placed the bottle down and picked up the letter. She stared at it for a moment before she worked up enough nerve to open it and when she did she read it over carefully. The payments for the second mortgage on her house were due that month.

Great, just freaking great.

Elina worked two jobs practically full time. There was the day shift at the repair shop and the dead-eye night shift at the road-side diner as well as the odd jobs that she somehow managed to find time for. Out in the backwaters of Alberta there were tractors to fix and cracked pipes to repair and since her services were cheaper than the town's regular Mr. Fix-it, many of the ranchers and farmers in those parts sough out her mechanical expertise.

It helped put food on the table and kept a roof over her head but for years Elina had struggled to dig herself out of the massive debt that her father had acquired when he was alive. The electric, hydro and gas bills always consumed a huge chunk of her salary and what little she had left went to buying tools and spare parts.

How the hell was she going to be able to make those payments this month? Elina tossed the letter onto the table and picked up her beer. The day was getting better and better and she had a funny feeling that it wasn't over yet.

She finished off the beer and tossed the bottle into a plastic bin that was her designated recycling box. She went over to the fridge and opened it in order to help herself to another Molson Canadian but when she reached into the interior she noticed that the fridge light hadn't turned on.

What the?

Elina shut the fridge and tried to turn on the kitchen lights but even those refused to comply. She moved quickly as she hurried into her living room and tried the lamps, stereo system and television but nothing worked.

"Oh great!" Elina remember to throw on a pair of sandals before she stumbled out of the house and ran towards the large wooden barn that stood about a hundred feet from the dog kennel. Chopper stopped what he was doing as he watched Elina throw the small barn door open and dash inside but nothing about her actions alarmed him so he went back to digging out a prairie dog from its hole.

"Shorty? Shorty you okay?" Elina called out as she carefully closed the barn door behind her and peered into the stifling darkness that consumed the interior of the large barn. At one time the old barn once housed a whole herd of cattle but now it was filled with bits and pieces of every type of machinery known to man-kind that Elina had managed to salvage over the years. Elina squinted at the darkest corner of the barn but couldn't make out of anything was hiding in the shadows. "I can't see you Shorty. C'mon out. Don't make me count to three."

Elina crossed her arms deftly over her chest and stood there, waiting. The only sound she heard was the faint squeaks of a few barn bats that roosted up in the rafters.

"One….two….," Elina began and before she could say three a series of metallic clicks rang out from the other side of the barn.

"Hiding again huh?" Elina frowned as she turned around. "You answer me when I call you okay? Don't scare me like that."

Another series of clicks rang out, this time with a chirp added in at the end for emphasis. To the untrained ear it sounded like a bunch of technological gobbledygook from some sci-fi film but Elina understood what each click and chirp meant. After all she had a hand in teaching him the new language.

Hiding behind a heap of old truck tires was a figure that most people believed only existed in the movies. But instead of being found in celluloid the figure had crash landed on Earth a good thirty years previously, having traveled across the universe from a planet that no longer existed. However, despite that fact the figure was perfectly content with staying where he was because it wasn't every day that a crippled Autobot found sanctuary in the perfect hiding spot.

When he heard Elina's footsteps coming towards him, Shorty dragged himself out from behind the tires. He used his left hand to navigate while he planted the massive drill bit that replaced his right arm on the ground in order to propel himself forward. He had lost his arm, along with the lower half of his armored body when he had crashed smack dab in the middle of a Texas oil field. His landing had set off a chain reaction of explosions that blossomed into a blazing inferno. Burning oil spewed onto him and the stuff acted like battery acid as it ate away at the wires and intricate circuits of his legs. If it hadn't been for the quick actions of Elina's father and uncle, Shorty's system would have short-circuited and his spark would have been terminated.

By Elina's estimations if Shorty still had his legs he would have been at least 11or 12 feet tall and judging by the size of his bulky frame he had to be one of those short and stocky types. He had the big barrel-like chest armor and thick shoulder plates that made her think of a robotic version of Sylvester Stallone's Rambo. In the place where his legs should have been were two heavy duty tires, the type that were usually found on bulldozers, and it was these tires that allowed him some form of mobility. The wheels supported his heavy upper torso the same way a wheelchair would and on his wheelbase, Shorty reached the whopping height of 7'1 from head to floor, hence the reason why Elina called him Shorty.

The Autobot paused for a moment as he turned his head from side to side, listening intently to Chopper's booming barks and wild yips. However since nothing seemed out of the ordinary Shorty wheeled himself into the center of the barn and stopped short of bumping into a large metal anvil.

Elina was practically tiny standing next to the sentient robot but it didn't seem to faze her a bit. Standing that close allowed Elina to get a good look at Shorty and even in the darkness of the barn she could still make out the Autobot's heavily scarred head. Anything that could have wrong had gone wrong when he landed and along with the loss of his lower torso, Shorty was also a mute and blind. His optics glowed faintly a clouded blue colour and what Elina considered to be his lower jaw area was nothing but twisted and partially welded metal.

Elina raised her hand and punched him lightly on the arm as he lowered himself onto his elbow joint and cocked his head in her direction. Another series of metallic clicks came from Shorty as he gave her an explanation of sorts, each click combination spelling out a word or a phrase. Understanding English was not a problem for the Autobot but the only way he could communicate was by using Morris Code which Elina happened to be fluent in.

"I know you didn't mean to scare me." Elina grumbled half-heartedly as she playfully punched his metal arm once more.

Shorty tucked his drill bit to the side in order to lower himself even further so that they were almost face to face. Despite his damaged optics Shorty had an unnerving knack of being able to read Elina. After a moment he clicked out a question and blinked once.

"No I'm not mad at you. Why would I be mad at you? I just worry about you all the time." Elina toed the barn floor as she leaned against his large metallic arm. Shorty's head followed her movements, his hearing receptors being as acute as they were.

Shorty snorted and shook his head slowly from side to side.

"Yeah well if I don't worry about you then who will?" Elina asked and gave his fingers swift kick with her heel, one that he hardly felt at all. "Did you blow another fuse?"

Shorty's shoulder plates bunched forward a bit and he actually looked sheepish for a moment as he pointed at the fuse box and nodded.

"Relax, it wasn't your fault. You know how faulty the power lines are. Remembered what happened three months ago?" Elina reminded the Autobot as she ran her hands up and down his good arm to check if he had any scorch marks, scrapes or the like.

Shorty clicked and let out a harsh rusty sounding sigh as he shifted his weight onto his drill bit and raised his good arm slightly so that Elina could examine the underside of it. He was fine but he knew that she would do it anyways. Sometimes she worried over him more than necessary. He had learned long ago that humans were highly stubborn when they stuck to their beliefs and Elina was no exception. If she believed he could have injured himself by accidentally blowing a fuse then she was going to believe it until she saw that he was unharmed with her own eyes.

"I know and now you know never to try to replace a table saw blade without making sure that the thing's unplugged first." Elina tapped him on the elbow joint for emphasis.

Again Shorty sighed and gave his head another shake. He had learned that lesson well. Diamond coated saw blades were a real slagging pain to pry out of his internal circuits.

"Just because you're an intergalactic robot doesn't mean that you're immune to making mistakes." Elina pointed out once she was satisfied that Shorty wasn't going to suddenly come apart at the joints. She gave his chest a sound pat and ducked under his raised arm as she threaded her way around various pieces of machinery. "Flashlight please."

Shorty used drill bit to haul himself back into an upright position while a bright beam of light suddenly flicked on from a small port located on the front of his wrist gauntlet. The interior of the barn was suddenly illuminated and Elina could now see where she was going.

"Thanks Shorty. Hold it a little higher. Gracias amigo." Elina reached the fuse box and wrenched the damn thing open. Shorty angled the light over her head so that she could see what she was doing and waited patiently as she tried to figure out which fuses were blown.

It took her a few minutes of close inspection but Elina finally found the culprits. "Ah ha, here it is. Gotcha ya you little buggers."

The fuses were those old types that when blown had to be replaced. Elina always wanted to upgrade to a newer model in order to make things easier but since the cold hard cash that was needed was hard to come by, she had to make due with what she had for the time being.

Shorty inquired about the nature of the damage with a few short clicks as Elina replaced the blown fuses but she just ignored it until she was done.

"It's nothing for you to worry your hard drive over. See?" Elina flipped a final switch and the overhead lights that hung from the rafters suddenly flicked back to life. Dusting her hands off Elina turned around and noticed for the first time that she had axel grease all over her hands and arms. She looked at her greased fingers and then at Shorty before she put her hands on her hips and shot him an annoyed glare that he couldn't see. "Why are you covered in axel grease again?"

Shorty shrugged his huge shoulders and raised his good hand as if to say that he had no idea how it happened. It was a down right lie and they both knew it but mum's the word in those cases.

"You just can't help yourself can you?" Elina scolded as she closed the fuse box and made her way back to his side. "C'mon you big bucket of bolts."

She grabbed a hold of his left index finger with both hands and like a leprechaun leading a giant, Shorty allowed Elina to guide him carefully toward the barn door.

"So what were you working on that blew three fuses?" Elina asked as she guided Shorty around the cumbersome table saw that sat next to a large makeshift wooden work bench.

Shorty's response was a single chirp that didn't give away much.

"Nothing? Now why don't I believe you?" Elina snorted.

The sound of shifting metal gears and plates filled the barn as Shorty shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay fine, don't tell me. But I warn you. You blow any more fuses then I'm going to make you tell me what you've been up for these past few weeks. And don't think I can't. You know I can." Elina tugged his finger for emphases when they came to the barn entrance.

Shorty frowned and grumbled a bit as he pulled his finger out of her hands and wagged it at her.

"Wise guy huh? Well we'll just see about that. Hold on a sec Shorty." Elina opened the barn door and stepped outside for a minute. She scoped the entire area to see if she could spot anyone but all she saw was Chopper tossing around the partially chewed prairie dog carcass that he had succeeded in digging out of the ground.

"Right, into the garage with you and you aren't coming inside the house until you're spotless. Capish?" Elina said as she darted back into the barn and unlatched the large double doors from the inside.

Shorty clicked sarcastically as he balanced himself on his drill bit and nudged the barn doors open with a flick of his finger. Not expecting this Elina ended up landing on her face as Shorty rolled past her wheezing away in a fit of laughter.

"Huh! Now that's gratitude for you!" She spat out a mouthful of dry dirt as she watched Shorty drag himself towards the garage, following the faint grooves in the ground that his wheels had made over countless of treks from the barn.

Clicking to himself he continued on his way, the hefty drill bit acting like a support cane as he felt his way along the side of the garage until he made it to the large single garage door that opened automatically. Shorty paused for a moment, raised his good arm and gave Elina a cheeky mock salute before he ducked inside and out of sight as the garage door began to close on its own.

Elina just shook her head.

"Robots."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Sportsfans!**

**Long time no see. Thank you for all the reviews. Shorty loves them all *chuckles*. This story got sidetrack due to issues in reality land but a few recent reviews brought back all the creative juices and I couldn't help myself. I have to keep writing this story. So thank you for helping me get back on track guys!**

**For the record, Shorty is actually a canon Autobot. I think I may have gotten his height wrong but I'm working on that one. I'm just waiting to see who can guess his real name before I reveal it in the next chapter. *waggles eyebrows* **

**And yes, Shorty is a macho man. **

**Happy Reading.**

* * *

SHOR_TY_!!!!!!!!!!!

Elina's shriek rang out throughout the house. One second she had been standing under the freezing cold spray that rained down on her from the showerhead and then the next what seemed like gallons of scalding hot water hit her smack in the face.

Leaping like a scalded cat Elina flew out of the shower stall as quickly as she could.

"Whooooah shit!" Elina almost fell as she skidded on the wet tiles of the small bathroom floor. Her arms flailed like a windmill as she tried to regain her balance but gravity won in the end and with an undignified squawk she landed on her rear.

"_Grrrrrrr!_ SHORTY THAT WASN'T FUNNY!" Elina shouted as she pulled her soaking hair out of her eyes and quickly grabbed one of the towels that hung behind the bathroom door. God what was with that robot today? Usually he was never this careless but Elina had a suspicious feeling that he was just messing with the water heater in order to get back at her for making him clean his gears. If it wasn't for Elina's unrelenting persistence Shorty would have had no problem staying filthy. He preferred it actually. Elina did not.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" Elina barged out of the bathroom with only the towel wrapped tightly around her. To hell with modesty! Wet footprints followed her as she stomped through the living room and straight into the garage in a total of two dozen steps.

Back in the day when they had first moved onto the homestead, Elina's father had redesigned the house with Shorty in mind. In order to accommodate his wide girth and massive wheels the wall that normally would have separated the garage from the rest of the house had been knocked down and replaced with sliding insulated panels that could easily be moved back and forth whenever the robot felt like venturing into the house.

Most of the interior of the homestead had been cut in half in order to allow for the expansion of the garage. It had been messy work but it was necessary. Trying to house a large robot was one thing but trying to keep him in the garage was a different story all together. The renovated garage took up half the house in order to allow Shorty to have one sweet little robo-pad all to himself. The basement was none existent, having been filled years ago with a mixture of concrete and metal beams in order to support Shorty's weight for the times that he did venture into the rest of the house.

The last thing anyone needed was to have Shorty fall through the floor and screw up his internal systems even worse than they already were.

"Well?" Elina barked as she stood there dripping in the stuffy garage. Her eyes were like laser beams as she glared at the scarred robot that had wedged himself into the farthest corner of the room in an attempt to unsuccessfully escape her view.

Shorty chirped quietly to himself as he wistfully scratched the back of his neck.

Oh he was so busted.

"You think this is funny?" Elina's scowled. She was teetering on the the edge of her patience.

First the macho crap at work, then the bank statement, and now this? Oh if she had a blowtorch in her hands right then something would have been welded shut.

"Shorty you know better than that! This isn't the time for your stupid pranks so will you just quit it already? I've had it up to here with you and so help me if you pull one more stunt like that and I swear I'll beat your mechanical ass so hard they'll feel it on Pluto. You got that?" Elina's words were razor sharp and they nipped the Autobot where it hurt the most.

Shorty actually winced and curled in on himself as Elina ripped a strip off him. He hadn't meant any harm. Usually Elina would scowl and bark a bit but he knew that she knew he was just trying to pull her leg in order to get her mind off whatever it was that usually bothered her these days. After all, wasn't that what humans on those television sitcoms did to each other all the time?

Shorty let out a few muffled bleeps and hung his head.

Elina opened her mouth to blast him again but she stopped short when she saw Shorty's reaction. It was difficult for Shorty to show any form of emotion physically but after 30 years of being surrounded by and exposed to every aspect of human culture that Elina and her father could think of, he had developed a way of showing how he felt through body language as well as chirps and hums. At times he acted more human that robotic which wasn't easy for a sentient being like himself but what else could he do? Being stranded on Earth meant that he had to adapt to his surroundings and adapt he did.

His shoulder plates sagged as he idly scratched the spot where his massive drill bit was attached to the stump of his ruined right arm. He lowered his gaze so that his sightless optics were focused on the concrete floor.

"Shorty I didn't… I didn't mean that." Elina closed her eyes and sighed. She had no right taking her anger out on Shorty. She had no right to hurt him. He was her best friend. He was her only friend. He deserved better. "I'm sorry Shorty, you know that I'd…"

Shorty cut her off with a wave of his hand. His clicks were soft as he apologized.

"No you didn't deserve that. Never think that. Shorty what I said was wrong and I'm sorry." Elina said in a firm tone as she stepped towards him. Shorty heard her move but didn't raise his head. "Listen Shorty you know I'd never ever do anything to hurt you right? Right?"

Shorty clicked and nodded but still didn't look up.

"And you know why that is?" She asked him as she reached out and placed one hand on his metal arm while holding her towel tightly with the other.

Shorty hummed a response and this time he did raise his head a little.

"That's right. We're _friends_. And what have I told you about friends? Huh? We look out for each other. We always have each others backs. No matter what." Elina raised her hand from his arm and reached up to touch his scarred faceplate with her damp hand. She had to stand on tip toe to do so. "And it also means that when I shoot my mouth off at you, you can tell me where to shove it."

Shorty blinked as he felt her hand tap him on the broad bridge of metal that was his nose. He tilted his head to the side and regarded her for a moment, trying to decide whether or not she was being serious.

"I'm serious." Elina chuckled as she answered his unspoken question. She knew that robot just as well as he knew her and sometimes she could practically see the little metal hamster in his head running on its super powered turbo wheel. "What?"

Shorty clicked a question that made Elina sigh and shake her head.

"Why am I so mad? Well the guys at the shop are ready to run me out because they feel insecure with me being there. What is with you males and your macho pride? Wait, don't answer that. What's even better is that I got a letter in the mail today from the bank and seeing that I don't have enough money this time to pay off the mortgage payments as well as all the bills, it looks like I'm going to learn to survive off air and we'll be using the old water pump out back for a while." Elina massaged her forehead. The mere thought of the ominous bank letter gave her a migraine.

Shorty's fingers drummed against the concrete floor as he thought for a moment. What Elina had told him was bad by human standards. Money was needed in order to survive in the human world and if Elina lacked the essential amount needed, what possible ways were there of getting it?

"Shorty unless we rob a bank there is no way that I'll be able to get enough money in time to pay everything off." Elina huffed as she stepped away from the Autobot once she realized that she was dripping all over him.

Shorty's filmy optics narrowed for a moment.

"Shorty we are not robbing a bank." Elina stated flatly. She didn't have to read his body language to know what he was thinking.

Shorty raised a finger as he tried to explain his reasoning but Elina wouldn't hear of it.

"_No_ Shorty. It's wrong and I really don't want to spend my life rotting in a jail and have you hiding out in a junk yard. That's if no one sees you and seeing that you're one really big whatever you are, that's highly unlikely okay? Remember what happened to Patrick Swayze when he robbed banks in _Point Break_? Yeah and I don't want that happening to us so nix the Bonnie and Clyde routine."

Despite Elina's stout refusal Shorty wasn't about to let the idea drop.

"What did I just say? N. O. means no! No way, nadda, it ain't ever gonna happen. Now I'm going to go put some clothes on and when I come back I better see you spotless and in the living room cause I'm not going to wait around for you to get all glitzed and glamed on movie night. This time I want to be able to finish watching the damn thing before I conk out." Elina gave him a stern reminder as she readjusted her towel and headed back into the living room without another word.

Shorty gave a low hum of excitement at the mention of movie night. Every Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays were their weekly movie-watching extravaganzas. Since it was the age of the DVD Elina had a massive collection of VHS tapes that she constantly picked up from the town's pawn shop or salvation army depot for about a buck a piece. They had seen most of them about twelve times over but to the Autobot it never got old. Especially if Star Wars or Rocky were on the list. Shorty could never get enough of Rocky. Rocky Balboa was the one human that Shorty personally thought had to have been an Autobot in a past life.

If there was one thing that Shorty always asked himself, it was "what would Rocky do?"

Whirring to himself Shorty made good use of the garden hose/pressure sprayer that Elina had rigged up for him as his own personal robo-shower. A little oil in the joints and a can of Turtle Wax and soon he was looking pretty darn spiffy. It didn't hurt that he played "Macho Man" on a repetitive loop. There was nothing like some good tunage to make the mundane fun. Especially when some sweet wheelie moves were involved.

_Macho, macho man  
I've got to be a macho man  
Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah)  
I've got to be a macho! OW!_

That was one Autobot with some serious moves.


End file.
